With war ravaging their homeland, the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians has been scattered across the globe. But five years since the violence erupted, the group are reuniting for a cathartic tour – and opening Glastonbury

Damon Albarn brought Shaolin monks, Kraftwerk stormed the velodrome and Punchdrunk revolutionised Doctor Who – as Manchester International festival returns this summer, we look back at the event’s most spectacular moments

Doctor Dee was a confidante of Elizabeth I, a mathematician and alchemist. Damon Albarn has written an opera about him and talks to John Harris about how the work has allowed him to express his patriotism